Mark Bittman has 4 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 3 narrators, with an average listener rating of 5★ across 2 ratings. The most-rated is Soda Politics.
Animal, Vegetable, Junk
Summary
From hunting and gathering to GMOs and ultra-processed foods, this expansive tour of human history rewrites the story of our species - and points the way to a better future. The history of Homo sapiens is usually told as a story of technology or economics. But there is a more fundamental driver: food. How we hunted and gathered explains our emergence as a new species and our earliest technology; our first food systems, from fire to agriculture, tell where we settled and how civilizations expanded. The quest for food for growing populations drove exploration, colonialism, slavery, even capitalism. A century ago, food was industrialized. Since then, new styles of agriculture and food production have written a new chapter of human history, one that’s driving both climate change and global health crises. Best-selling food authority Mark Bittman offers a panoramic view of the story and explains how we can rescue ourselves from the modern wrong turn.
©2021 Mark Bittman (P)2021 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company
Soda Politics
Summary
Sodas are astonishing products. Little more than flavored sugar water, these drinks cost practically nothing to produce or buy yet have turned their makers - principally Coca-Cola and PepsiCo - into a multibillion-dollar industry with global recognition, distribution, and political power. Billed as "refreshing", "tasty", "crisp", and "the real thing", sodas also happen to be so well established to contribute to poor dental hygiene, higher calorie intake, obesity, and type 2 diabetes that the first line of defense against any of these conditions is to simply stop drinking them. Habitually drinking large volumes of soda not only harms individual health but also burdens societies with runaway health care costs. So how did products containing absurdly inexpensive ingredients become a multibillion-dollar industry and international brand icons while also having a devastating impact on public health? In Soda Politics, Dr. Marion Nestle answers this question by detailing all of the ways that the soft drink industry works overtime to make drinking soda as common and accepted as drinking water for adults and children. Dr. Nestle, a renowned food and nutrition policy expert and public health advocate, shows how sodas are principally miracles of advertising; Coca-Cola and PepsiCo spend billions of dollars each year to promote their sale to children, minorities, and low-income populations, in developing as well as industrialized nations. And once they have stimulated that demand, they leave no stone unturned to protect profits. That includes lobbying to prevent any measures that would discourage soda sales, strategically donating money to health organizations and researchers who can make the science about sodas appear confusing, and engaging in corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities to create goodwill and silence critics. Soda Politics follows the money trail wherever it leads, revealing how hard Big Soda works to sell as much of their products as possible to an increasingly obese world. But Soda Politics does more than just diagnose a problem - it encourages listeners to help find solutions. From Berkeley to Mexico City and beyond, advocates are successfully countering the relentless marketing, promotion, and political protection of sugary drinks. And their actions are having an impact - for all of the hardball and softball tactics the soft drink industry employs to maintain the status quo, soda consumption has been flat or falling for years. Health advocacy campaigns are now the single greatest threat to soda companies' profits. Soda Politics provides listeners with the tools they need to keep up pressure on Big Soda in order to build healthier and more sustainable food systems.
©2015 Marion Nestle (P)2016 Audible, Inc.
A Bone to Pick
Summary
Since his New York Times op-ed column debuted in 2011, Mark Bittman has emerged as one of our most impassioned and opinionated observers of the food landscape. The Times' only dedicated opinion columnist covering the food beat, Bittman routinely makes listeners think twice about how the food we eat is produced, distributed, and cooked and shines a bright light on the profound impact that diet - both good and bad - can have on our health and that of the planet. In A Bone to Pick, Mark's most memorable and thought-provoking columns are compiled into a single volume for the first time. As abundant and safe as the American food supply appears to be, the state of our health reveals the presence of staggering deficiencies in both the system that produces food and the forces that regulate it. Bittman leaves no issue unexamined; agricultural practices, government legislation, fad diets, and corporate greed all come under scrutiny and show that the issues governing what ends up in our market basket and on our tables are both complex and often deliberately confusing. Unabashedly opinionated and invariably thought provoking, Bittman's columns have helped readers decipher arcane policy, unpack scientific studies, and deflate affronts to common sense when it comes to determining what "eating well" truly means. As urgent as the situation is, Mark contends that we can be optimistic about the future of our food and its impact on our health, as slow-food movements, better school-lunch programs, and even "healthy fast food" become part of the norm. At once inspiring, enraging, and enlightening, A Bone to Pick is an essential resource for every listener eager to understand not only the complexities inherent in the American food system but also the many opportunities that exist to improve it.
©2015 Mark Bittman (P)2015 Random House Audio
How to Eat
Summary
Best-selling author Mark Bittman and physician David Katz cut through all the noise on food, health, and diet to give you the real answers you need. What is the “best” diet? Do calories matter? And when it comes to protein, fat, and carbs, which ones are good and which are bad? Mark Bittman and health expert David Katz answer all these questions and more in a lively and easy-to-read Q&A format. Inspired by their viral hit article on Grub Street - one of New York magazine’s most popular and most-shared articles - Bittman and Katz share their clear, no-nonsense perspective on food and diet, answering questions covering everything from basic nutrients to superfoods to fad diets. Topics include dietary patterns (Just what should humans eat?); grains (Aren’t these just “carbs”? Do I need to avoid gluten?); meat and dairy (Does grass-fed matter?); alcohol (Is drinking wine actually good for me?); and more. Throughout, Bittman and Katz filter the science of diet and nutrition through a lens of common sense, delivering straightforward advice with a healthy dose of wit. Narrated by Robert Fass: Two-time winner of the prestigious Audie Award as well as numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards, veteran actor Robert Fass has narrated over 200 unabridged audiobooks by modern and classic fiction writers such as Ray Bradbury, John Steinbeck, Saul Bellow, T.S. Eliot, Joyce Carol Oates, Carlos Fuentes, Jeffrey Deaver, and Lee Child, as well as best-selling and prize-winning nonfiction works in history, politics, health, journalism, philosophy, business, and memoir.
©2020 Mark Bittman and David L. Katz (P)2020 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company